National Section

School District Ransom “I don’t know legally if a school district can pay a ransom.” — Brian Bridwell, business manager for the Jerome School District in Idaho, talked about the Dec. 2017 predicament when district officials found much of its …

Excess Liability Commercial Market Detail: R-T Specialty, LLC (www.rtspecialty.com) has experience with a host of industries and the ability, the expertise, and the industry relationships to find answers for difficult casualty risks. Available limits: As needed Carrier: Unable to disclose …

A total of 84,254 workplace discrimination charges were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) nationwide during fiscal year (FY) 2017, according to the federal agency. The EEOC said it secured $398 million for victims in the private sector …

The number of announced U.S. insurance broker deals in 2017 was the highest in recorded history, at 536. This year also had the highest number of deals closed in the fourth quarter since 2012 (when the capital gain tax rates …

Mergers and acquisitions of insurance agencies last year broke all records in 2017, according to OPTIS Partners’ annual report. The OPTIS database recorded 604 deals in the United States and Canada in 2017, a 31 percent jump from 461 in …

M&A activity in the insurance industry was hot in 2017, and thus far in 2018, it shows no signs of cooling, with 30 deals announced in the month of January alone. The following are reports from the InsuranceJournal.com news archives …

The Bermuda re/insurance model will be tested following U.S. tax reforms and the continuing challenges of competitive market conditions, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. The cut in the U.S. corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, …

Insurance Center of New England, Eastman & Davis Insurance Agency Insurance Center of New England, based in Agawam, Mass., has added Eastman & Davis Insurance Agency of West Springfield, Mass., to its company. ICNE is a privately owned and independent …

When I began my career as a journalist covering the insurance industry back in 1981, many of my early stories reported on dire warnings in a series of studies and expert pronouncements predicting the imminent demise of the independent agent. …

Times are changing when it comes to how U.S. drivers feel about autonomous vehicles. According to a new study from AAA, 63 percent of U.S. drivers report feeling afraid to ride in a fully self-driving vehicle. That sounds like a …